The Department of Education announced Wednesday that the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) application process for prospective college students next school year will not open fully until Dec. 1, two months later than the usual schedule.
The delayed timeline follows a chaotic rollout of the revised form this year that was beset by delays and difficulties.
The FAFSA form, which usually opens in October, will be available to a small number of people for a testing period starting Oct. 1. Starting Dec. 1, all students and their families will be able to apply.
“The 2024-25 FAFSA cycle has been challenging, but the Department of Education has listened carefully to students, families and higher education institutions, made significant changes to the leadership and administration of federal student aid and is taking a new approach that will significantly improve the FAFSA experience this year,” said Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona.
“Thanks to the cooperation of our stakeholders, we have been able to improve the administration process for the 2025-26 school year, and we look forward to continuing to work with our partners to ensure this year’s FAFSA administration is better for domestic students,” he added.
The ministry explained that the phased rollout is being done to identify errors in the system and get necessary feedback on any bugs. The testing phase will begin with a few hundred people before more personnel are added to the system.
This testing period comes after a disastrous FAFSA rollout in the most recent cycle.
Last year’s application form wasn’t open to the public until late December and wasn’t fully made available to all applicants until January.
Even after the form was fully available, numerous bugs were discovered that made the process confusing and difficult for both students and universities.
Cardona acknowledged Tuesday that the rollout “has frustrated many students, families, education leaders and policymakers” but said the Education Department is “listening, learning and taking action.”
As of March, there was a 40 percent difference in the number of applications filed prior to the 2023-2024 cycle and the 2022-2023 cycle. The department says that difference has now narrowed to 4 percent.
“We’ve heard loud and clear from students, families, higher education professionals and other stakeholders that they want a better, simpler FAFSA process and want to know for sure when that will happen,” said FAFSA Executive Advisor Jeremy Singer. “Working closely with our partners, we’re confident that FAFSA can deliver not only a better product than last year, but also a smoother process that will make higher education more accessible and affordable for more Americans.”
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), the ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said in a statement that the delay was “completely unacceptable.”
“For the second year in a row, the Biden-Harris Administration will miss the customary deadline for providing FAFSA forms to students,” Cassidy said. “Last year, we learned that colleges cannot create scholarship packages without receiving FAFSA information in a timely manner. Uncertainty about student aid eligibility could lead many students to abandon college altogether because they are unable to choose a school.”
